Saucon Valley Partnership scrutinizes Hurricane Sandy readiness

Group discusses ways it can be better prepared for superstorms such as Sandy.

November 18, 2012|By Tony Nauroth, Special to The Morning Call

Three weeks after Hurricane Sandy knocked out power to much of the region, community leaders in Saucon Valley scrutinized their responses, pinpointing two areas for improvement.

The Saucon Valley Partnership, consisting of governmental representatives from Hellertown, Lower Saucon Township and the Saucon Valley School District, on Wednesday identified the need for a better means of communication with the residents they represent.

To that end, members will investigate the possibility of tapping into existing databases, such as the automatic notification system used by the Hellertown Borough Authority to contact borough residents about water quality issues, pipeline construction or temporary shut offs.

The partnership will also see if there might be some way to use Northampton County resources or databases.

Members noted they have $18,000 to work with, although they did not discuss when or how they would spend it.

The second issue has a more direct human face on it. John Bate, representing Hellertown, noted: "All three of the senior high rises in Hellertown were without power" during the height of the storm.

Bates said some generator power was being used to run elevators, but emergency lighting in the hallways, running on battery power, went dark after about a day into the electrical outage.

In Lower Saucon Township, St. Luke's Hospice House on Black River Road had to be evacuated, although officials said only four seniors occupied the hospice at the time. They were taken in by relatives or by hospitals.

Lower Saucon Township itself realized the need for a generator to keep municipal offices and its computers up and running during future storms.

Township manager Jack Cahalan previously said the police department's lights and heat were humming along nicely while other township offices were ready to break out candles.